Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 3353 Comprehensive Considerations

 In dynasties where communication was not smooth, in most battles, the commander-in-chief and the generals of each branch were often out of touch. In other words, it means that the head coach and the branch generals are actually fighting their own battles.

Just like when Fei was hiding in Hedong and preparing to attack Cao Jun, an "uninvited guest" also came to Tongguan.

Zhang Liao.

Along with Zhang Liao came the cavalry troops from Longxi.

As soon as Zhu Ling saw Zhang Liao, his heart went cold.

It's not that I'm afraid, it's that I feel like I'm not qualified...

It turns out that Zhu Ling had also imagined that if he launched a counterattack against Cao Jun, would he be allowed to be the commander-in-chief of the army?

As a result, when he saw Zhang Liao, he understood that the commander was Zhang Liao.

Of course, Zhu Ling also knew that he could not compare with Zhang Liao.

Pang Tong, who came with Zhang Liao, glanced at Zhu Ling, but did not say anything. Instead, he led everyone to the upper level of Tongguan. He stood on the observation deck of Linzhiyuan and looked at Cao Jun's camp at Tongguan from a distance.

It's like Zhu Ling's rocket idea is very good, but there is a better one ahead.

What can be done?

The fortification and defense system of Cao Jun's camp in Tongguan was basically the same as that of the camp in Anyi, and was even stronger than that of the camp in Anyi.

From the former military camp in Niutouyuan, it continued to the side of the river.

Camp, fence, wooden wall, sentry tower.

Traps, flips, ground thorns, and horse rejection.

Zhang Liao looked at it and his brows gradually wrinkled.

What is even more troublesome than the land east of Hedong is that the Cao Jun camp in Tongguan is long and narrow and extremely deep.

The terrain of Tongguan makes it difficult for Cao's army to attack as the attacker, but similarly, now the Hussars will also encounter terrain restrictions if they want to counterattack.

On the Tongguan Slope Road, even if we don't mention the trenches dug by Cao's army, the remaining battle corpses, and various scattered siege equipment, it doesn't look like a smooth passage.

At the same time, because Cao Jun's camp is not all the way to the end, if you cannot successfully break through the mutual structures between Cao Jun's camps, you will easily get stuck in a certain fortification or in front of some camp, causing congestion of the troops. .

Once there is a troop congestion, Cao Jun can attack from multiple aspects to cause the Hussars to lose blood.

This was already slightly reflected in the previous Tongguan counterattack.

At that time, Sima Yi invaded Zhongtiao Mountain and raided Cao Jun's pontoon camp on the river. Seeing an opportunity, Zhu Ling and others led the attack, but during the attack they were unable to successfully break through Cao Jun's position, and finally failed. The only option is to retreat back to Tongguan City.

Seeing Zhang Liao's expression, Pang Tong certainly knew what Zhang Liao was worried about, so he pointed with his hand, "This is a way, but it is not the only way..."

Zhang Liao was stunned, and then turned his attention to the river, "Your Majesty, you mean... take the waterway?" 』

Pang Tong laughed and said, "The waterway is also a road!" 』

Zhu Ling pawed at the side and sighed, "That's right!" There are also battleships in Guanzhong! How could Cao Jun's small boats stop this flow down the river? ! 』

Zhang Liao nodded, his brows seemed to loosen a little, but he quickly shook his head and said: "If it is mainly water, there is still...I think there is still something wrong." 』

Pang Tong smiled and did not speak immediately.

"inappropriate? ” Ma Yue was a little confused and stared in the direction of the river, “Could it be that Cao Jun also prepared a naval force? 』

"Cao's navy is not a problem..." Zhu Ling seemed to have thought something clearly, "The trouble is still the terrain..."

"good. Pang Tong nodded, "Fighting by water, except for those pontoons, is restricted by ferries." If the troops cannot be deployed at Jindu, then even if there are thousands of warships, they will be limited to the river. 』

Ma Yue suddenly realized what he was saying and said, "Oh."

Pang Tong's eyes moved slightly, as if he was not looking at anyone, and he seemed to have taken in everyone's performance.

There is no problem with Ma being more loyal, but he is slightly lacking in ability.

Zhu Ling is just like his name, he is flexible enough, but still a little inexperienced in looking at the problem.

Zhang Liao is worthy of being a warrior who has been on the battlefield since the time of Dong Zhuo. He is experienced...

As everyone said before, if we mainly attack by water, we will encounter some unavoidable troubles, which will be difficult to solve.

If it is like a game, if the ship leaves the soldiers and doesn't care, the ship is a ship and the soldiers are soldiers, then you can really find a place to throw the soldiers off the ship, and then the ship will turn around and walk away.

But in fact, ships are to serve as temporary strongholds and battle fortresses. In other words, if there is no suitable beach for landing operations, then the ships will not be able to provide sufficient support to the soldiers!

Not to mention the infiltration of small units, but in large-scale battles, I have never seen soldiers thrown off the ship at random!

If the hussars board the ship to fight, they must find a suitable landing point, and whether it is Xiaopingjin or Shaanjin, they are now in the hands of Cao Jun, and they will certainly not let the hussars ashore so easily.

Therefore, if you want to use the water force to attack the pontoon bridge connecting Cao Jun's Zhongtiao Mountain and Tongguan and suppress the Tongguan camp, then it is a good choice. But if you want to use this waterway to spread out the large troops and transport them ashore, , it is more difficult.

Regardless of whether Cao Jun built any traps at the pontoon bridge, even if not, the remains of the pontoon bridge were an obstacle to passage. Wanting to pass quickly was simply wishful thinking. In addition, the Three Gorges after Shaanxi and Jin are also natural battleship traps, so if you take the big river route, you must put all your soldiers down before Shaanxi and Jin...

In addition to soldiers, horses are also a problem.

Unlike the Jiangdong navy, the hussar is called a hussar because it requires a war horse, and the space required by a war horse far exceeds that of a human being. Although part of the cabin can be transformed into a temporary stable in a battleship, the feeling of fluctuations on the water will make those big-eyed cute young ladies restless and even try to break away and escape, causing themselves or other injuries. Human harm.

After comprehensive consideration, Zhang Liao said that the waterway can be used, but there are also disadvantages.

Pang Tong smiled, "Actually, there is another way..."

Pang Tong pointed to his feet.

"ah? 』

…

…

Late summer of the ninth year of Taixing.

Genghai day.

It is suitable for meeting friends, traveling, cleaning, trading, collecting money, praying for blessings, and building foundations.

Avoid getting married, setting up a bed, making a stove, or making fire.

Chongyangshaxi.

Fei Qian climbed onto the high platform.

Since the surrounding terrain is relatively flat, you must stand on a high platform to better observe the opponent's formation and maneuvers.

The messenger's team was far away, blocked from the main army.

After learning about the envoy sent by Cao Cao, Fei Qian's first consideration was not what was written in the war book, but why Cao Cao did this, what was the purpose of doing it, and what did he want to gain?

"War letter?" 』

Fei Qian was indeed a little surprised.

He had thought about sending a letter of challenge to Cao Cao before, but later he felt that this move was a bit superfluous, so he let it go. But unexpectedly, Cao Cao sent an envoy and a letter of war in turn.

"What's the messenger's name?" 』

Fei Qian asked.

"My surname is Li Mingcheng." 』

The messenger replied.

Fei Qian frowned and thought for a moment. He really couldn't figure out who this so-called "Li Cheng" was, but he still had someone call the messenger in. Now the vanguard battle between the two sides, that is, the advance battle for the battlefield, has generally come to an end. Because of Cao's army's inherent deficiencies in cavalry units, except for the Anyi camp and the area behind the Anyi camp, which had a certain degree of battlefield control, the rest was basically given to the hussars.

From this point of view, Xu Chu has generally completed his pre-war mission.

Xu Chu gained the right to dominate the battlefield north of Anyi, while Cao Jun huddled in the camp and played a "defensive counterattack", or "defense instead of attack".

Fei Qian met Li Cheng.

Li Cheng's appearance is not impressive, but his aura is very strong. From the beginning, he said that he is the emperor's special envoy. The prime minister sent Yunyun to ask Fei Qian to greet him according to the etiquette of welcoming an angel, otherwise he will be contemptuous of the emperor!

this…

Fei Qian smiled slightly, this man was a bit interesting.

According to ordinary people's concepts, if Cao Cao is so virtuous and the situation is bad, he still puts on such a show, isn't it offensive and hateful?

But if you think about it, when it comes to issuing a challenge, Cao Cao is still good at it.

"Today, there are 800,000 flood control troops..."

It can also be regarded as a classic among classics.

It's just that many people ignore the background of Cao Cao's letter of war.

At that time, Cao Cao did not want to attack Soochow. It was just that it was too easy to get Jingzhou, which caused Cao Cao's personal expansion. He refused to listen to everyone's advice and also when Jingzhou was not completely restored and stabilized, he sent his army south, thinking that We must determine the country with one fell swoop.

Therefore, there is a high probability that when Cao Cao attacked Jingzhou, he had the seal of the emperor, which is the so-called "Feng Ci to attack crime". However, there was no such "Feng" when attacking Soochow, so he could only "be able to hunt", and in this case In the word "hunt", we can also get a glimpse of Cao Cao's thoughts when chasing deer. Unfortunately, Cao Cao was too proud, which caused him to stumble on Chibi.

So what can Cao Cao be proud of now?

Or...

Fei Qian suddenly understood that Li Cheng was not here to send a declaration of war, but to die.

"Send" again?

"This person is unreasonably arrogant, despises the general, is disheveled, and has incomplete etiquette. He is rude first and then speaks rudely!" For the sake of angels, spare the death penalty! Come on, go out with a certain Todoroki! 』

When Fei Qian saw Li Cheng acting like this, he more or less guessed what this guy meant.

Just like Fei Qian had previously considered sending a letter of war to determine whether Cao Cao was really in the camp, Cao Cao wanted to use this method to test whether Fei Qian was present in person. On the other hand, this was I want Fei Qian to be like Yuan Shao and fall into the bad reputation of betraying the great man.

After all, many people in Shandong only care about good and bad and don’t care about the process...

The human heart is complex yet simple.

After all, they are brothers, so they may have similar ideas.

It's just that Fei Qian felt there was no need to test, but Cao Cao sent someone...

So in fact, it doesn't matter whether you read the gauntlet or not, and there is no need to really kill this guy just because of his words.

No matter in any era, there are some people who want to be famous.

Fei Qian didn't recognize Li Cheng, and he didn't remember that there was such a leading role among the characters in the Three Kingdoms. Moreover, looking at this man's posture, he felt as if he was here to die. Killing him would be in line with his wishes.

If Fei Qian is angered by this, he will behead this guy, but there is a high probability that someone will send this guy's head back.

Or cut off the person's nose and ears or something and then put them back.

And even if this guy didn't die on Fei Qian's side and insisted on returning to Cao Ying, after completing his mission, he yelled "Seniors can be killed but not humiliated" and then he could end with honor and receive his lunch box. His words and deeds may not be the same. He will be remembered by others, but his disobedient rudeness will be widely publicized.

So if Fei Qian really receives Li Cheng according to the etiquette of angels, then Fei Qian is really stupid. Who knows whether Li Cheng will come to have a casual meeting?

Therefore, this person has "meritorious service" on both sides. Even if he dies, his wife, parents, etc. in his hometown in Shandong will most likely be taken care of for a certain period of time.

At the same time, he also smeared a piece of dirty black mud on Fei Qian's body...

So Fei Qian simply stopped reading the letter of challenge, leaving this guy no place to wipe it.

But at the same time, Fei Qian also raised a higher level of vigilance.

Cao Cao was so anxious to make sure that he had come in person. When he saw his banner arriving, he immediately sent an envoy. What was his purpose?

You know, Cao Cao is actually very tolerant...

Many people play the game "Three Kingdoms" and feel that among the three families of Cao, Liu and Sun, Cao Cao is relatively easy to play. He has many soldiers and can control the territory well. However, not many people know clearly. In fact, during the snipe-clam fight at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao initially There is no good capital.

When Lao Cao was in Chenliu, he started his career by relying on the prestige of his younger brothers Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao. After starting up, it was not all smooth sailing. In the battle of Bianshui, the entire army was wiped out; he went south to Yangzhou to recruit troops, and managed to win thousands of soldiers, but almost all of them ran away halfway; under Yuan Shao's wings, he endured for more than a year, and Puyang was overthrown by Lu Bu. The old nest.

So in fact, if you carefully examine Lao Cao's entrepreneurial history, you will find that it is not easy for him. And when Cao Cao started his army at the same time, there were even many people who were richer than Cao Cao at the beginning and had larger businesses. But in the end, it was only those three companies that survived.

In Chen Shou's later evaluation of Cao Cao, there were eight words, "Let your emotions be calculated, and don't remember old evils." It can be said that they are extremely essential.

The meaning of this word "hypocritical" is slightly different from that of later generations. Jiao means to straighten a curved object, while the word "hypocritical" means to make subjective emotions consistent with reality. Rensuan means planning.

It seems ordinary, but if you really think about it, it is embarrassing.

When it comes to others, there are not many people who can discuss things as they are. What's more, when it comes to oneself, they can also make their subjective emotions consistent with reality, rather than judging based on emotions and desires. They are willing to let go of their previous prejudices and let others do what they want. This is It is already very rare.

It is remarkable that Cao Cao can restrain his heart and desires and tolerate all kinds of intolerable things.

In the Battle of Yanzhou, both Cao Cao and Lu Bu suffered from lack of food, but Cao Cao could endure it, but Lu Bu could not. In the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao was several times more powerful than Cao Cao in terms of military strength and logistics, but Cao Cao could still endure it and could He endured the fact that the army was almost out of food, and even told Xu You that the army's food could last for more than a month, but Yuan Shao couldn't bear it. He tried to mate Guo Tu to let Yuan Shao slow down the war, but Yuan Shao was eager to compete with Cao Cao in the desperate battle...

Fei Qian thought about this and his eyes were slightly introverted.

So now, who is really "pretentious and free from evil intentions"?

Accepting or not accepting the letter of challenge will only have a slight impact on Fei Qian's mood, but will not cause any obvious changes to the current layout.

With the arrival of Fei Qian, the rangers from both sides became more and more dense. Of course, most of the frontal areas of the battlefield are still controlled by the hussars' scout cavalry, while Cao Jun's rangers will operate in the area close to Cao Jun's camp, which is relatively narrow. When they see the hussars cavalry approaching, they will immediately return to the camp. The camp was forced to use bows and arrows and stones from the camp.

The two armies finally formed an array near Anyi City and in the Yuncheng Basin. Amid countless flags and shouts, the midfield curtain of the battle began...

(The horse monkey on the tree just wanted to manually cut the field, but was shot down by an arrow that flew from nowhere. Fei Qian hid the bow behind his back and smiled.)

As Feiqian's army arrived at the front line, almost the entire area north of Anyi was covered by three-color flags.

Neat phalanxes were ordered and prohibited amidst the sound of trumpets and drums, and the neat steps made the ground vibrate slightly. Under the command of flags, drums, and bronze whistles, each battalion began to enter their respective combat positions.

The structure of the Loess Plateau and the characteristics of crisscrossing ravines in the plateau made Fei Qian's formations subject to certain restrictions.

Fei Qian's array was divided into two levels. The first line was still Xu Chu's front army, running from east to west and facing Cao Jun's camp. The second level is the line of troops commanded by Fei Qian, with infantry and cavalry distributed in a mixed manner. There are cavalry arrays on both wings and in the middle. The infantry is in front of the artillery battalion.

The artillery battalion, which is the key force in the attack, is now divided into two teams, the front and rear. Each has a military commander. They were deployed in tandem, one hundred steps apart. Fifty paces away from the left and right of the artillery camp, there are infantry formations guarding it.

There is also a baggage engineering battalion in the middle to provide support.

The cavalry on the left and right wings are mainly responsible for holding down the position, controlling the battlefield, and serving as the initial **** and final impact. It can not only compress Cao's army's array, but also use its flexibility and high mobility to pass through the gaps between the square arrays to carry out rapid attacks and counterattacks against the enemy.

It looks quite satisfactory...

Of course, this is what it looks like, and it is what is shown to Cao Jun on the opposite side.

Because Fei Qian's current army can be said to be in the initial stage of the integration of hot and cold weapons, apart from Fei Qian, there is a high probability that only Pang Tong can truly understand how to combine gunpowder artillery and traditional cold weapons, and It’s not like each one fights his own…

Even in later generations, it will be difficult to combine infantry and artillery. This kind of combination is not the so-called "infantry rushes and the artillery bombards, and the artillery bombards the infantry." The real infantry-artillery combination is that when the last artillery shell falls, the infantry behind it has already rushed to the bombardment line of the artillery shell!

Of course, this kind of combination of infantry and artillery has extremely high requirements for both infantry and artillery. Even if you are not an elite, you cannot achieve such an effect. Fei Qian did not expect to be able to achieve such precise cooperation at the moment, but At least don't let your soldiers block the artillery line, and then be able to provide timely protection when Cao Jun attacks, that's about it.

Fei laid out infantry guards in the artillery battalion of the central formation, and also allocated part of the cavalry to the front army to strengthen the strength of the front army cavalry, while the other part of the cavalry was placed further back. to prevent Cao's army from attacking from behind.

It can be seen that the Feiqian central front is mainly built around the artillery camp.

A very traditional formation with central focus and flexible sides.

This was Fei Qian's response to Cao Cao and Cao Jun.

There’s no need to mention the gauntlet, let’s put the chips on the table... Oh, let’s put the battle in!

So how will Cao Jun react after Fei Qian plays his cards?